The Ocean Dreams

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imagination

I ‘wish’ it was wicked…but not too much luck with that today. At least not yet.

Instead another long, looooong day in the car had me thinking of so many things I wish I could change around here. Wish David was still here…the kids miss him so much. Wish I could buy him one more banana split at Dairy Grove…and watch the kids giggling over their own ice cream, and how much Dat loved his 😀

Wish I could find a job. Now that at least can be more than a ‘wish’. I can change that. I will change that.

Wish I could find a better ‘home’ for the kids, and me. Found a wonderful little run-down ‘shack’ of a home driving around last week, the paint long gone, but the porch strong and sturdy, the tin roof needing a good cleaning and mercy! does the whole place need landscaping…a girl can dream. It would be such a joy to take an old abandoned house like that and bring it back to life. Make it a ‘home’ once more. No fancy renovations; just restore it and love it. Put an old wringer washer like Grandma had on the back porch, and a tire swing in the tree out front.

Get a wood burning stove (or gas if the city is picky) like the one we love at writer’s camp.

My cast iron would be right at home.

Add a porch swing and a joggling board…

I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life fixing the old place up and making it a little ‘more loved’ every year.

I decided early this morning that I might as well have fun with this since we are obviously freezing down here in the Lowcountry… a myriad of possibilities later (and, might I add, not a one of them sounded the least bit ‘fun’ to this hot-rock loving girl) the best part might be dragons. I love some of the old Norse mythology that had dragons not in caves but living beneath the ice or atop mountains… spreading their wings and with each beat the frigid winds of winter.

A few fun-filled hours of exploration later I found this beautiful creature:

Pretty….but not cold enough for today’s weather, ha.

Not sure how well that ice would fly…

How about a dragon that actually causes cold instead of just living in it?

Driving about today, over the bridges and the marsh, the salt creek, the river leading on to the sea and it occurred to me as I turned up yet another prosaic little tree-lined street that this defines much of my life. Not the nondescript neighborhood, but an endless desire to discover someplace or something new.

Even as a very young child I was always begging Grandpa to “take the windy roads” through the Missouri Ozarks, or down some country road…any road or trail that took us into the unknown. Most of the time it was somewhere very mundane…another farm, another ramshackle cabin back in the woods, an old country general store.

Perhaps a new bridge over a winding, rocky creek where we could stop and wade or have a picnic lunch. Sometimes an old cemetery with quaint and faded markers and worn fencing that bade me to stop and wonder about the lives that ended here.

I realize that desire to wander without destination, to explore for nothing beyond the chance of discovery, and seeking nothing more than the wonder that surrounds us is exactly who I am, yesterday and today…and off in search of somewhere I have not yet been, a sight not yet seen…tomorrow.

Another week past…hard to believe almost the end of another month….another YEAR! Where in bloody blue blazes did this one go?!

Considering that the phrase itself is a ‘stand in’ for hell…on second consideration that might not be sooooo far from true. Too much anger, too much sorrow, loss, pain, inhumanity in this year….all across our country and our world. Time passes so swiftly in these difficult times…and yet seems to drag on interminably.

For myself, I choose to hold tightly to the victories amongst the sorrow. The wee, small, quiet moments that assure me that life does indeed go on despite the vagaries of men. My old dog snoring under my feet, as so long she has. Little A’s smile. Aleah and DJ playing in Peppa Pig’s dollhouse. Visiting the birds at the school. The song of the ocean, as it recalls God singing it into creation so very long ago.

The joys and sorrows friends have shared…that is beyond price.

The stories! So many stories. Theirs. Mine. Ones we have read. What have you read this year? What mark did it leave within you?

For now…my dear Khyr and his story are told. Upon the new year I shall edit and revise once more, with fresh eyes and an open heart…seeking to draw from those thousands of words the essence of what and who he is and the story he wishes to share.

And I have Truian to keep me company, so very different from Khyr. I never really imagined that world till now with its air ships and swift solar powered sailing ships, the steam-punk edge but without any of the grit and pollution….eco-punk? I would love such a world.

He wants to be off sailing now. My heroes and their passion for water…yes indeed. I think I can encourage him to go for a swim yet before this year is over. Now there is a lovely fantasy.

It’s Friday, and a new month begins. Already the temperatures are dropping, leaves are falling, and night comes far too soon. First day of the month and already I am looking forward to Winter Solstice and the promise it brings.

But for tonight, this peaceful night, with the room filled with my eclectic mix of music on Spotify, Remy–my Staffordshire Pitbull–curled up beside me and our sweet old chocolate lab, Meg, sleeping on my foot, it is a good winter night.

There’s a lot of white on her now, but she’s still our baby girl.

I have been pursuing dragons (of my sort) across the pages all day. That is always fun.

Adorable!

Also another reason to get my protagonist to shed his shirt 😉 Water. Dragons. Heroes. Yep, it’s been a good day.

gorgeous photo by Giovanni Allevi… perfectly captures the mood of the sea for the story.

Possibly not the kind of fantasy others expect me to indulge in…those usually involve warriors, weapons, water, and your occasional monster or two. Sometimes a bit of romance/sex just to keep things interesting 😉

No, decidedly NOT suitable for YA. Which works for me.

But today, and tonight…actually for the majority of this entire week…my fantasies have been more decidedly domestic, a lot less fun, but terribly relevant just now. I am missing our old house, the neighborhood, my gardens and the landscaping I loved. I have discovered I cannot function when my nights never embrace the darkness; there is always some hideous street light or spot light denying the night and obstructing my view of the moon and stars. I miss nightly strolls in the dark, just gathering my thoughts, organizing this wild clutter of rampant imagination, and centering my soul.

Where, then, can we go, me and my small troop of offspring? The countryside may be well suited to this introverted earth mother, but my boys are more like David was…happier with sidewalks or biking/hiking trails, and civilization (at least parks) within reach.

Finding a compromise should be interesting. I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, other more entertaining versions of fantasy (yes, the ‘other’ kind) are running rampant through my pages with the current focus remaining on dragons and eco-themed ships on both air and water.

Think they are any match for a flight of dragons?

This is way more fun than trying to imagine what kind of place we should call home next.

going through a lot of my favorite music tonight as the Muse is quite insistent on being inspired…or at least properly dictated…by the music.

David Garrett has played a lot. That man and a violin is pure magic. Plus…definitely fun to watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zloCaH9LrCM if you never have, enjoy

And then I wandered back to other wonderful music… themes from Lord of the Rings, Last of the Mohicans, and the one song from Gladiator I never tire of hearing… Now We Are Free. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gNs4W4T20U I don’t even look at the video, I just want to hear it.

But now I must put aside my fantasy …take to the car, enjoy the moonlight, and the scents of autumn camellias and jasmine on the breeze…pick up my girls…and revel in the music of their laughter and voices.